- Date posted
- 1y
Reworking religion
Because of years of scrupulous OCD the very idea of religious services and activities brings up apprehension and stress. How can I rewire my brain to learn to enjoy these things?
Because of years of scrupulous OCD the very idea of religious services and activities brings up apprehension and stress. How can I rewire my brain to learn to enjoy these things?
Medication, Therapy, and praying with real intent that God will help you to get back to him in a way that you can understand that its him. It's hard but worth it. Remember God is love and he always will be.
Give yourself time. Attending services caused a lot of anxiety. Still does to a degree. But I go anyway. I do my ERP at church at times. I sometimes sit in a room where I can't be seen but I can hear. But it doesn't happen overnight. And you can't go by your feelings a lot of times because OCD will lie.
OCD has decided to latch onto my religion (Christianity) and I find myself doubting my belief in Jesus Christ. Yet when I research, I even find myself doubting the atheistic and agnostic approach as well. I’ve been a Christian since I was 13, growing up in a non-Christian in truth but nominally Christian household. This is rough. Any advice?
Hello! It has been well documented that OCD can manifest itself in the form of religious rituals. There is a fine line between genuine piety and OCD. For those of you who have struggled or are still struggling with this, have you sought the guidance of a religious figure in addition to a therapist? Meaning, that you attend therapy with a therapist who works with you on ERP exercises, but also have a rabbi, priest, or imam who you use for guidance in determining what is actual piety versus behavior that is OCD?
So I am a practicing Catholic, and I've gotten into reading the Bible this year, praying the Rosary, things like that, and while I love to do that, my OCD has been seeming to take over, in ways such as like I have to read the Bible for a certain amount of time before I'm satisfied with the time read, or something along those lines, and it's starting to make the thought of praying and reading the Bible unenjoyable, which is really hurting me inside, because I used to and want to enjoy it so bad, but now this is making it really hard to, because it feels like I don't have control over my own thoughts, and little things trigger the thoughts, it's just so annoying. If there's anything anyone thinks I can do to combat this please let me know.
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